I completed the pre-excavation documentation of feature G309 on Friday, and yesterday started excavating its central portion, with four local workmen, Nail, Mohammed, Ashmi and Akasze. The south-west interior corner of a building appeared very quickly. Brushes and trowels in hands, we were eager to define the extent of this structure.

Milena cleaning the remains of the chapel

The surviving remains, although presently not very high – 40 centimetres at the southern edge – still suggest a structure of impressive scale. Eight metres long and four metres wide, it is larger than the examples exposed previously. Constructed on an east-west axis, the grave originally consisted of a chapel, at the western edge of which stood a small brick pyramid.

Cleaning back sand from around the small pyramid base (right)

What next? We will excavate the burial shaft, which might be over two metres in depth. Judging from the extent of the buildings and the adjacent mound of debris, whose height should reflect the depth of the grave, this phase of excavation might take some time. Let’s hope our patience will be rewarded with intact human remains and associated burial assemblages.